Have you ever wondered why a certain topic is on the top of the Twitter trending list? We often open it and try to find out what got so many users on Twitter talking about it, only to find ourselves clueless. No need to worry now, as Twitter in its blog has confirmed that it will now add pinned tweets and descriptions on the trend to provide users with a context of why a certain topic is in trend.
First, starting today, the platform will feature pinned tweets that will carry the context of a certain trend. These tweets will be determined by a certain “combination of algorithms and a curation team,” who will evaluate if a tweet is popular and reflective of the trend. The algorithms will help recognize representative tweets that are abusive or spam, and it will filter them out. This way, the company will ensure that you aren’t left searching for answers from millions of tweets.
Pinned tweets can already be found on Twitter’s Android and iOS apps but are yet to be implemented on the web version.
Moreover, in the coming weeks, the platform will also add brief descriptions to some trends, which will be generated by Twitter’s dedicated curation team. The description aims to provide users with a straightforward and clear context of why a topic is trending. Twitter says this feature will be available soon in the coming weeks on all Twitter platforms.
Pinned tweets and descriptions will only be available in select countries, i.e. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, at least for now.
Twitter says the question “why is this trending?” was tweeted around half a million times last year. The company said in its blog, “We know there is more work to do to improve trends and the context updates we’re announcing today are just a small step in the right direction. There is more we can do to help people understand why something is trending and to provide transparency around how something trends”.
